A staggered Sir Alex Furguson said after the full-time whistle: ‘It was a throw-away, an absolute give-away. To give away four goals at Old Trafford, I can’t believe it.

‘Their goals were very soft, easy, no challenges on their goals. That’s unusual for a team going for a championship; you should see the game out.

‘We’ve given them (City) the initiative, no doubt about that.’

The Old Trafford crown were stunned after 33 minutes when Nikica Jelavic angled a great header past David de Gea to give the visitors the lead, but United were level eight minutes later when Wayne Rooney nodded home from Nani’s cross.

Danny Welbeck then put the champions ahead 12 minutes after the break with a curler from the edge of the box, and Nani doubled the advantage by dinking over Tim Howard following some beautiful build up play.

Marouane Fellaini put Everton back in contention when he volleyed in Tony Hibberts cross after 67 minutes, but Rooney appeared to seal the points for United when he tapped home his second of the afternoon two minutes later.

However, when United let Jelavic fire in his second from 12 yards on 83 minutes, Steven Pienaar popped up unmarked in the box two minutes later to poke in the equaliser and silence the home crowd.

Everton boss Moyes said: ‘Absolutely brilliant the effort we put in. We came here to win the game. The players didn’t half put on a show.

‘Today was a chance to play in another big game and stop people thinking our season was over. I don’t think at any time we deserved to be two goals down.’

The result means City only need to win their remaining four fixtures, which includes a clash with United at the Ethiad on April 30, to finish as Premier League champions.